


Black Sheep

by 1tskillingm3



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Anxiety, Asexual Character, Body Horror, Demisexual Characters, Depression, Disassociation, Fluffy Angst, Homesickness, Insecurity, Isolation, M/M, Nonbinary Character, Queer platonic relationships, Torture, angsty fluff, as always my friends here there is, dark themes, self discovery, self hatred, that seems to be my genre, the black paladin question, they're all black sheep in one way or another
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-11
Updated: 2016-08-11
Packaged: 2018-08-08 00:48:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7736614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1tskillingm3/pseuds/1tskillingm3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Did you never think it was strange, oh ‘Black Paladin’? Strange that we put so much work into you, and then just let you go free… and that you just so” happened” to form Voltron right after?</p><p>Admit it, you’ve always known you never belonged.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Black Sheep

**Author's Note:**

> I was rambling to thatshortangryperson, as usual, and as was promptly told that I should write a fic for my theories. So…. Here I am. 
> 
> Should be noted that I’m not actually making prediction for S2: too many unknown variables for a story on that. But I am playing with a couple ideas of directions that they could take things… with less gay for the kids of course.

_ He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not speak; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. _

* * *

 

_ Shiro dreamed he was standing in a glade, much like the images Alura projected except dark. Without being told, he knew that the lions were nearby. That should have served as a comfort, but it didn’t. _

_ Something was very wrong.  _

_ “Out here again?” he turned and there stood a dark skinned Altean dressed in the Paladin uniform for the Red Lion.  _

_ “I told all of you everything was fine. I come here merely to think, surely you understand. Aren’t Alteas all advocates of the greatness of meditation.” the words came from Shiro’s lips unbidden. There was a murderous anger in his blood, not necessarily at the person before him but… _

_ “And everyone else believed your lie.” conceded the Red Paladin, and Shiro wanted to tell them to leave now because he was suddenly sure that the other was in danger, “But I know you better than that: there is a darkness growing in you, friend. I sense it becoming more powerful day by day. If you do not do something soon I fear it will destroy you.” _

_ “Hah,” the laugh felt wrong on his tongue, his body felt too big, too- “I always figured it’d be you that found me out: You always were too ruled by instinct. Even when all reason and logic should have been on my side, you always ignored such things didn’t you?” _

_ “Friend-” the other began, purple eyes suddenly widening as Shiro felt his beyard activate in his hands and- _

_ The dream shifted and he was watching himself writhe at his own feet, Hagar and her sisters encircling them both. Purple electricity crackling between them. _

_ “How much longer?” he growled, and it was so distasteful, but it would all be worth it when he got back what was rightfully his- _

Shiro woke up screaming. There was pain so intense in his right arm he could not see. Poison. It felt like there was poison in his veins. Something vile, and wrong that didn’t belong there, that was killing him from the inside out. 

“Shiro!”

Shiro clawed at his shoulder. He was barely aware of anything beyond purple fire-

***clang***

Shiro shouted as there was a sudden white surge of pain before it all stopped.

“Fuck- Shi- c’mon, c’mon, not losing you again…” Shiro felt familiar hands cradling his face. It felt like a mighty battle to even get his eyes open, but the relief on Keith's face when he did made it all worth it.

“You okay?” he croaked, his throat raspy in a way that spoke of more than just screaming.

“Am I-?” a weird sound left Keith at that, “ _ I _ am the one who should be asking  _ you _ that.”

Shiro couldn’t help but smile a bit at that, was tempted to let his eyes fall closed again and let exhaustion claim him, but…

“Zarkon.” Shiro suddenly remembered, attempting to sit up.

“The wormhole was compromised and spat up all out in different directions. Luckily you and I landed on planets pretty close together so it didn’t take me long to track you down. But once I did you were… not good. You wouldn’t wake up, even after I dragged you out of your Lion. And then you started to have some kind of fit and your arm was acting up and I thought it was going to kill you and I-” Keith look immensely agitated.

“Where are the others?” Shiro interrupted, reaching up with his human hand to gently grasp the hand that Keith was still lightly holding against his cheek.

“I don’t know.” Keith’s eyebrows came down in an expression that could be mistaken for anger if the person didn’t know Keith as well as Shiro did, “I tried scanning for them with my Lion but they must be too far away.”

“That’s not surprising,” Sighed Shiro, “But it’s not good either. A wormhole creates a passage between two impossibly far away locations like a bridge between two wrinkles in fabric. A couple feet of difference in a wormhole could be galaxies apart.”

Keith said nothing to that, just glared at the ground. Shiro tried to sit up, only to slip and fall ungracefully on his side when his right arm didn’t respond. He might have cracked his head against the ground if Keith’s arms hadn’t instinctively shot out to steady him. 

“What…” Shiro murmured in confusion, staring at his right arm. Staring uncomprehendingly at the deep slash in the metal and wires.

“I’m so sorry.” Keith’s face was uncommonly vulnerable and guilty looking, “I thought- It looked like it was going to kill you, so I…”

For the first time Shiro took in the injuries he had oridginally written off as suviniers from their last fight, or the crash landing. There was some of those, but… there were burns that had melted straight through his armor that’s track marks looked an awful lot like finger claw marks all over his chest. There were also bruises over his windpipe, as if there had been something cold and unrelenting closing in tightly over his own neck. Not to mention he still remembered the unbearable pain that had come before Keith had apparently cut the connection. 

“You did what you thought you had to.” Shiro murmured, still staring at his unresponsive arm.

“I guess…”

“Maybe once we find the others, Hunk and Pidge can figure out a way to fix it.” Shiro tried sound upbeat. Keith didn’t look comforted. 

“Can you pilot your Lion with only one arm?” Keith asked.

“I guess we’ll see soon enough.” Shiro shrugged, trying to not think too deeply about all the terrible ‘what if’s that were mounting on his consciousness. Keith looked to him for guidance, to hold them together, so he would, “Where is she?”

“I hid our Lions in some caves I found not far from here, far away from the crater where we fell. With any luck, if Zarkon sends scouts out here they’ll think we’re already long gone.” Keith said helping him to his feet. Shiro suppressed a smile when he noticed how close Keith hovered, dark eyes determined and protective. 

“Let’s go then.” Shiro said.

“You’re not well enough to travel yet.” Keith immediately objected, “We should stay here at least another couple days.”

“Probably.” agreed Shiro mildly, “But I’d still like to check up on the Lions.”

“...Alright.” Keith said after a moment, “But if you- I mean, you were just- and it’s rocky and-”

“You’ll be the first to know if I need a break or something's not right.” Shiro told him. It might be a little bit of a white lie, since things were already not alright. Shiro felt like there was a sickness under his skin and with his arm deactivated… he wished he could say that the sense of something very important being missing was just because of the temporary loss of connection to his limb. But he had a sneaking suspicion of what it was.

“Follow me.” Keith agreed at last, walking to pick up his bayard before returning close to Shiro’s side and leading him away.

Maybe it was nothing, Shiro tried to convince himself. But he’d never been good at self deception. There were a few things that had been bothering him for a while, and after the last fight and the things Zarkon and Hagar had said… well, the seed of doubt had been planted and it was growing fast. What had been the purpose of taking select prisoners and throwing them into the arena? It hadn’t been everyone, they’d never put Matt and Katie’s dad in, they’d been choosing a certain kind of person and narrowing from there. For whatever reason, they’d wanted a “champion”. For whatever reason they’d cut off his arm and spent a lot of time and resources carefully equipping him with an artificial one. For whatever reason they’d loaded him up on that ship and sent him back to earth… mere  _ miles  _ from where the Blue Lion and new Paladins would be.

Too many coincidences.

Alura had told him that the bayard from the Black Paladin had never been retrieved.  _ Zarkon _ had the Black bayard. Had used it the way only a seasoned Paladin could have. He’d called the Black Lion his. He had been fixated on it in a way he just wasn’t as much with the others. A Lion couldn’t have two Paladin’s at once. It’d never been said out loud, but it’d been explicitly implied. There was only one  _ true _ Paladin at a time. 

Shiro’d unconsciously thought at first that it was just another perversion made by the Druids magic because Zarkon wanted Voltron… He was beginning to think that was really true, but maybe not in the way he’d originally thought and it made him feel sick.

Because the moment his arm had disconnected, he’d stopped being able to feel the Black Lion’s presence.

_ And that was was  _ _ far _ _ too many coincidences.  _

**Author's Note:**

> Some of you might have caught it, but the quote at the start of the story is from Isaiah. The context behind which, if you’re curious about such things, is that this was a time when the Assyrians had overthrown the northern kingdom and were vying for power of the southern kingdom with the Babylonians and the Egyptians and those who had not already been sold into slavery were caught in the crossfire. The actual passage is one of hope for the redemption of the suffering servant. 
> 
> The context is obviously not meant for fictional space adventures, but even so I thought it was fitting :)


End file.
